Apparatus for drawing blood or other body fluids



Feb. 1, 1955 DAVID M. JU 2,?O0,W3

APPARATUS FOR DRAWING BLOOD OR OTHER BODY FLUIDS Filed June 1'7, 1955 INVENTOR.

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zy kaz Vif United States Patent APPARATUS FOR DRAWING BLOOD OR OTHER BODY FLUIDS David M. Ju, New York, N. Y.

Application June 17, 1953, Serial No. 362,209

1 Claim. (Cl. 128-276) This invention relates to clinical syringes and test tubes for medical use. In common practice, a patients blood is drawn by the doctor by means of a syringe, and the blood specimen is then poured into a test tube for further study. The once-used syringe then has to be care fully washed, rinsed, treated with chemicals, and finally sterilized before it can be used again. This process is tedious and costly. During the transference of the blood specimen from the syringe to the test tube, moreover, the blood can easily become contaminated or spilt, whence great care must be exercised, more particularly when a blood culture for bacteriological study is conducted.

The present invention has been devised with the object of eliminating the above-mentioned drawbacks of the common method wherein an ordinary syringe and test tube are used, by provision of two stoppers, each having one plastic tube extending through an opening therein and adapted to be inserted into a graduated glass tube which has both ends open, one of the two tubes being adapted to have a common medical needle attached thereto, the two stoppers and plastic tubes being disposable and discarded after use and two solid stoppers being inserted into the glass tube to seal its contents for clinical or laboratory examination.

Referring briefly to the drawing,

Fig. 1 is an elevational view, with parts broken away and partly in section, showing the combination assembled and ready for use, of the disposable plastic tubes and the disposable one-holed stoppers through which these tubes pass, together with a glass tube and a common medical needle on the end of one of the plastic tubes.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing the device in the form of a kit as it may be provided in sterile condition by the manufacturer, to be supplied to the hospital or doctors office prior to use.

Fig. 3 is an elevational view, partly in section, similar to Fig. 1 but illustrating a modified structure of this invention.

Fig. 4 is a view illustrating the use of the device.

Referring in detail to the drawing, the numeral indicates a glass tube provided with graduations for observation of the liquid contents thereof, and with two open ends for receiving stoppers. The numeral 11 indicates a stopper provided with an eccentric passage 12 therethrough. A transparent plastic tube 13 extends down through the hole 12 into the tube 10, terminating clear of the bottom of the latter. The outer portion 14 of the tube 13 is flexible and provided with a reduced adapter end 15 adapted to have an ordinary medical needle 16 frictionally secured thereto. The tube portion 14 is also preferably graduated, substantially as shown, so that the quantity of blood drawn through the needle may be noted therein.

A second plastic tube 17 extends from and through the second or lower stopper 18 which for this purpose also has an eccentric passage 19 therethrough; the tube 17 extends upward through the stopper 18 and terminates near the upper end of the glass tube 10. The outer portion 20 of the tube 17 is provided with a dilated end or mouthpiece 21.

The parts of the kit shown in Fig. 2 are provided as therein illustrated, that is, with the tubes 13 and 17 in 2,700,973 Patented Feb. 1, 1955 position in the stoppers 11 and 18, respectively, assembled in the glass tube 10 and packed in a paper box 22. Two additional solid stoppers 23 and 24 may be provided to plug the ends of the glass tube after the blood has been drawn thereinto and the stoppers 11 and 18 have been extracted. The whole kit is supplied in sterile condition. Thus, after receiving the paper box, an ordinary medical needle 16 is attached as shown, and the device is ready for use.

Fig. 3 shows a modified structure of this invention, and therein numeral 10a indicates an ordinary graduated test tube and 11a indicates a stopper provided with two spaced passages 25 and 25a therethrough. A transparent plastic tube 26 extends down through the hole 25 into the test tube 10a, terminating clear of the bottom of the latter. The outer portion 27 of the tube 26 is flexible and is provided at its extremity with a reduced adapter end, similar to that shown at 15 in Fig. l, receptive of the same medical needle 16. A second plastic tube 23 extends downward through the stopper opening 250 and terminates near the stopper in an upturned or upwardly deformed tongue or hood 29 which serves to prevent liquid drawn into the test tube through the tube 27 from entering the tube 29. The outer flexible portion 30 of the tube 28 is also provided with a mouthpiece 21.

In using the form shown in Fig. l, as illustrated in Fig. 4, the needle is inserted into the patients vein and the operator gently sucks on the tube 20 with the mouthpiece 21 in his mouth. When the desired amount of fluid has been obtained, the stoppers 11 and 18 with the tubes 13 and 17 therein are successively removed and replaced by the solid stoppers 23 and 24. The upper stopper 11 with the tube 13 is first removed, and replaced by a solid stopper. The glass tube 10 is then turned upside down, so that the stopper 18 becomes the upper end, and the latter is then removed together with the tube 17 and replaced by the other solid stopper. The bloed sample in tube 10 is then ready for laboratory studies.

The two tubes 13 and 17 are, of course, transparent so that the flow of liquid in them may be observed and also measured by the graduations thereon. Chemical reagents or bacteriological media may also be provided in the tube 10 ready for use.

With the use of this invention, it is apparent that only the needle 16 need be sterilized, thereby obtaining a great economy in time and labor. Moreover, since the blood or other fluid is drawn directly into the graduated tube 10, there is no need to transfer it to another container or test tube in many cases.

The method of using the modified forrn shown in Fig. 3 is believed obvious. In this form, after the desired quantity of blood has been drawn into the test tube 10a, the stopper with both tubes therein is removed for disposal and is replaced by a solid stopper similar to those shown at 24 and 25.

From the above it is apparent that a. substantial improvement in the art has been provided.

I claim:

In combination with a tube adapted to be held upright and being open at the top and closed at the bottom, a stopper adapted to be mounted in the open top of the tube, a pair of flexible plastic tubes, said stopper having two spaced passages therethrough, one of said flexible tubes extending through and being ri idly positioned in each of said passages, one of said flexible tubes extending downward through said stopper a distance suffiicient to position the lower end thereof close to the bottom of the upright tube, the other of said flexible tubes extending downward through said stopper to a point near the bottom of the stopper, said other of said flexible tubes having a mouthpiece thereon, said other of said flexible tubes having a hood on the lower extremity thereof within the test tube to prevent fluid from being drawn into said other of said flexible tubes.

No references cited. 

